Lubricator



June 26,1928. l

i J. F. MaclNDoE LUBRICAT 0R Filed July 7. 1927 Patented June 26, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT UFF-ICB Y JOHN FRANKLIN ivrAerNnon; oanA's'r rALLs,PENNSYLVANIA. 'Y

^ LUBnrcA'ron. V

' Application filed July 7, 1927. Serial\'1\Io.:i204,091.4

tion of the cup; to provide a simple and elfi? cient pressure operatedlubricating cup formed of pressed metal ;'Y to provide a lubricating cuphaving a main reservoir and an auxiliary storage chamber, bothcoop`erating to give a predetermined uniform discharge of lubricantregardless ot variation in the pressure of the controlling dischargespring; and to provide otherimprovements as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 represents a sectional elevationof a pressure operated lubricator embody.

ing one form of the present invention;

Figure. 2 represents a section online 2 2 ofFigure 1;

Figure 3 represents a sectionall elevation of a lubricator embodyinganother Jorm oi. the invention; and y f Figure 4 vrepresents a sectionalelevation of the cup discharge casing'provided Vwith. a moditied formVof attachment device.

Referring to the drawings, oney formv of the present inventiongcomprisesa two part casing Jformed of pressed metal consisting of a dischargepart 10 and a reservoir cup 11 which are respectively internally andexternally threaded for intertitting connection as shown at 12. `Thedischarge part 10 forms a storage or receiving chamber 13 and preferablydecreases in cross sectional area toward its discharge end where itterminates in a discharge openinglli of fixed diameter and generallyrelatively small. -That lportion of the part 10 whi'chpleads to thedischarge outlet v1li and vforms the neck thereof,v is exteriorlythreadedas shown at 15 for attachment to the part -to be lubricated.

One side of the partlO is provided with a threaded opening 16torconnection to aV grease gun and this opening communicates with thechamber 13 for filling purposes For the purpose of controlling both theadmission of grease or lubricant to the cup 11 and the discharge ofgrease or lubricant Yfrom the cup 11 to the chamber 13, a plate 17 ofdisk form is interposed betweenfthe annular face 18 ot the cup 11 and anannular shoulderV 19 of the part 10V and leakage about the joint Jorinedbetween these parts 1sk prevented by two` ring gaskets 20 located. onopposite sides ofy the plate 17.

For introducing lubricant from the chamber'13`into` the cup 11, theplate 17 is provided with a pluralityr of ports 21 and these arearranged tobecontrolled by a lift valve disc 22 preferably ofthin metal4operating lin conjunctionV with aleather washer 23 to :open thek ports21 under .pressurenforlthe passage of `the lubricant. Inthe present in-Vstance, -this disc 22 is shownheld `down in -itsfclosed position'by acoil 'spring 24, but this is ynot always necessary and i may be,

omitted since the discharge pressurev is gen erallysuiiicientftoinsurevthe return ofthe d1sc22 and washer` 23 to closed position.

\ The disc 22 'and the washer 23'form a lift check valve which isnormally closedbut automatically .opens luponfreversal of Ypressure astakes place 4during the filling operation. VFor automaticallydischarging the grease or lubricantfrom the-cup11 with automaticcompensation for the necessaryy fixedy outlet area-during the firstportionv o'fthedischarge, the plate 17 is'provided with an axiallylocated tubular extension 25 Which pro jects upwardly into the cup 11andv provides a passage 26 yofpunitor'm ldiameter forl the discharge ofgreasefrom the cup 11 to the chamber 13. y In this instance sincea's'pring .'24 is provided toy assistv in the closing of the platewasher valve 2id/the4 upper end of this tubular extension 25 is turnedoutwardly to V'orm a circumferential shoulder 26 to retain the spring24: under compressure. jThe discharge of the lubricant. frointhe cup 11takes place `underxthe action of a plunger or piston27 acted upon by ahelical spring i i 28- compressed between thel end of the cup 11 and theplunger 27 and normally tending to move the latter toward the dischargepas- Attac'hed to A` the plunger' 27 is a control valve member 30 in theform of a depending tapered stem, the-large end of i which is free topass throughthe discharge opening 26 with sufficient clearance to allowthe lubricant to pass aroundbetween itand the walls of the passage 26.4vWhen the `cup i is discharging the large end `of the valve `member movesthrough the passage 26 causing'a uniform flow of grease for the periodwhen the 'piston 27 -is movingsuba stantially one quarter of its stroke,and

when it emerges from the passagerthe tapered part of its stem begins tocontrol the quantity of grease in proportion to the weakening of thespring 28 and the net result is 27 and projects with a free sliding fitthrough the closed end of the cup 11.` lVhen the cup is full this stem31 will be fully 2U. extended and as the grease' is discharged it willmove furtherinto` the cupuntil,

when the latter is empty, the end of the,

stem 31will `be substantially flush with the cup end. In empty positionthe flange of 25 the 'stem 30 seats upon the extension 25 and thusprotects the piston 27 against contact .I with the plate 17. i l y In`1i`igure3. a modified form of the invention is shown wherein theplatecheck l-valve 32 controls the ports 33 in a plate 34 having an attachedaxial extension 35 which depends into the chamber 13 of the part 10.This` extension 35'is formed with an outwardly flared passage 36, thetaper of 35 `which bears a direct relation tothe pressure of` theplunger operating spring 28. The 'flexible check or flap valve 32 isretained in operativerelation by suitable guides `37. VFor the desireduniform control the plunger ii or piston 27, in this form has a stein38"`pro vided with a cylindrical plug valve 40, the diameter of whichallows a lubricant flow clearance at the inlet to the passage 36 andthelength of which correspondsY substantially to one quarter `of thelength of the i stroke of the piston 27. This compensates for thenecessary fixed outlet area. The stem 38 is provided with a limit stop41 fast to the stem 38 at the point required to bring 0 the piston 27 torest at the end of its discharge stroke. i 4

In Figure 4 a modified means is shown i forrpermitting `a grease gunnipple to be connected to the part 10 of the lubricator and thisconsists of a bushing 42 made fast to the pressed metal shell andthreaded to receive the end of the gun or other part used to forcegrease into the shellto fill the VVhen filling the'cup of the presentin- Y vention, grease or other lubricant is introduced under pressure byway of the openl lng 16 and fills the chamber 13 to the level of theplate 17 `whereupon continued introduction. of the lubricant raises theAlift valve 22 and allows the lubricant to enter the cup 11. Here theentering lubricant, being under pressure,pushes the piston 27 towardsthe end'of the cup againstthe pressure of the spring 28 while the stemindicator 3l moves outward to indicate when the cup is full. The cup isnow ready for use and the filling pressure heilig relieved by theremoval of thepressure gun, the spring 28 functions to move the piston27 in the direction to discharge lubricantinto the chamber 13 and fromthere-by way of the discharge hole 14. In both the forms of Figure 1;and

:stem emerges from the fixed area passage and in the other form the plug40 passes vinto thetapered passageg36. i

It will now be apparent that a complete unitary greasecup constructionhas been devised which while vapplicabley to any cup `construction ismore particularly useful in solving the problem of pressed metal greasecups and the automatic fillingand discharging thereof. By the presentconstruction also, a storage reservoir.13 is provided and which isnormally full of lubricant to maintain a constant feed to the part to belubricated but in case of emergency this stored lubricant may become agravity feed should there be heating sufficient to change the conditionof the lubricant. c c

What claimed as new and useful is:

1. A grease cup construction comprising a hollow casing having anuncontrolled discharge opening, a plate arranged in said casing to forma main grease reservoir and a storage reservoir, said plate having agrease inlet and a grease outlet-` a check valve controlling said inletand arranged to open under pressure from said storage reservoir,pressure actuated means for controlling said grease outlet, and meansfor attaching a Sli grease gun to said casing to `feed grease into saidstorage reservoir.

2. A' grease cupconstruction comprising a two part hollow casing, plateclamped between the partsof said casingto form a main grease` reservoirand a storage reservoir, saidplate having a plurality of grease Vinletsand a discharge outlet, a lift valve arranged to control said greaseinlets and oper- .ative to open under pressure from said storagereservoir, pressure actuated means for :automatically proportioning thefiow of grease through said discharge outlet,` means for forcing greaseunder pressure into said storage reservoir to open said valve and fillsaid main reservoir, and an uncontrolledl discharge opening from saidstorage reser- Voir.

3. A grease cup construction comprising a two part hollow casing, aplate in said casing providing an upper main grease reservoir and alower storage reservoir,said plate having a plurality of grease inletsand a grease discharge outlet7 a lift valve for controlling said inletsand arranged to open under pressure from said storage reservoir,

a spring for returning said Valve to closedy position, pressure actuatedmeans for forcing grease from said main reservoir to said storagereservoir, means for automatically proportioning the low of greasethrough said discharge outlet, means for forcing grease yunder pressureinto said storage reservoir tov open said valve and ill said vmainreservoir, and an uncontrolled discharge opening from said storagereservoir.

Signed at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania,this 5th day vof July, 1927. Y

JOHN FRANKLIN MAOINDOE.

